20 Nejiten Moments
by Mysterious Smiles
Summary: 10 Neji-centered moments. 10 Tenten-centered moments. One: Neji is forced to re-evaluate his "youthful" feelings.
1. Chapter 1: Neji

10 Moments-Neji + 10 Moments-Tenten=20 Moments Nejiten.

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Hyuuga Neji had never thought about girls. They just didn't fit into his master plan to ascend the ranks of shinobi. Oh, Neji knew he'd get married. He just wouldn't get married to a woman who understood his childhood, his life as a shinobi, or anything about him.

He'd get married to a woman who kept out of the lines of battle and waited at home with the children and a hot meal ready for him. He hoped she would be tolerable, but he didn't think about it too much.

He was a Genin who had bad experiences with girls. When he was ten, a fangirl hid in his bathtub with a camera ready to take a photo of him shirtless. When he was eleven, he spent Valentine's Day hiding from all the fangirls. Unfortunately, the fangirl experiences got even worse.

Neji despised girls. They were mostly focused on their romantic feelings for boys and were not suited for battle.

The day after Lee met Haruno Sakura, Neji was forced to re-evaluate his romantic feelings. He was walking back to the Hyuuga compound after training, and Lee just so happened to be walking beside him.

Neji wasn't really paying attention to anything Lee was saying because Lee was talking about Sakura and how pretty her hair was and how nice she was.

Neji would give responses like, "Hn," "I am sure Sakura-san will come around," and "Get off me! I am not giving you advice on how to get girls to notice you!"

Suddenly, Neji noticed that Lee was looking at him earnestly as if waiting for a response.

He didn't want to admit that he wasn't paying attention, so he simply pretended he hadn't heard him. "Pardon me?" Neji asked Lee.

"Is there a special girl you like?" Lee asked with curiousity.

Oh no. Neji was not getting into this. He definitely was not. He merely grunted and attempted to ignore Lee as Lee begged him to "spill" about his "most youthful crush."

He started walking more quickly, but unfortunately, Lee had no problems with the change in pace.

The Chuunin exams were coming up, and Neji did not want to talk about girls. He wanted to go home, meditate, and train some more on his own.

He did not need to talk to Lee about girls. On the other hand... If he didn't respond to Lee, Lee might bring it up during training and then Neji would have to deal with Gai-sensei pestering him too. Neji almost cringed.

As annoying as Neji thought Lee was, he also knew that Gai-sensei was much worse.

"No," Neji stated to Lee, hoping that Lee would shut up.

In fact, he did the opposite. "I'm sure you have liked at least one youthful blossom! At least one! Come on, Neji! Tell me!"

Annoyed, Neji voiced his thoughts. He informed Lee that girls were nuisances that bothered him and got in the way of his training. Lee seemed to contemplate this for a moment before bothering Neji some more. Neji was getting fed up with the whole situation.

Finally, Neji blurted out the name of the first kunoichi to come to mind.

"Tenten?" Lee asked as if not believing him.

"Tenten," Neji affirmed while nodding his head.

This seemed to shut Lee up. Lee stood there with his mouth open for several minutes, and Neji inwardly patted himself on the back for a job well done. He began to walk away, when Lee's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I see why this complicates things," Lee said as he caught up to Neji.

"If you admit your youthful feelings to her and she does not feel the same, it would make working together on the same team awkward. If you admit your feelings and she returns them, you will need to learn to separate your relationship from your team. If you admit your feelings and she returns them, but you break up that would be even worse," Lee stated quietly for him.

Neji figured he must have shocked Lee out of his overenthustiastic and loud self for a little while. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. "Tenten doesn't like me," Neji stated, "She likes someone else."

Neji might've been Tenten's best friend, but Neji knew who Tenten had feelings for. His eyes, after all, saw everything.

He'd seen Tenten glance furtively at the green-clad shinobi and blush when Lee wasn't watching. He'd seen the way she tried to prevent the two of them from fighting out of fear that Lee would end up beaten to a bloody pulp.

For some reason, this made Neji angry and only ended with him beating Lee to even more of a bloody pulp. It was no use though. Discouraging Lee from fighting Neji only encouraged Lee even more.

Lee placed a hand on Neji's shoulder as if in comfort. "Lucky guy."

Neji almost couldn't believe that Lee was so dense that he hadn't figured out Tenten liked him.

"Tenten is really nice, strong, smart, and pretty. It is like you said about Sakura and me. She will come around. She's perfect for you."

After that, Lee walked towards his house which was a couple feet away. Neji almost felt bad about lying to Lee. The Hyuuga compound was still far, and Neji used the walk home to think. Lee wasn't lying.

Tenten was certainly nice. She always had the team's best interests at heart. She didn't have a lot of physical strength, stamina, or skill with genjutsu, but she was good at ninjutsu, great with weapons, and the fastest kunoichi in their age range. Her intelligence was high.

Yes, Tenten had always been pretty. She didn't feel the need to cake her face with makeup like his stupid fangirls. She didn't wear her hair down because it got in the way, but when she smiled-

Neji had enough self-control to stop the train of thought right then and there. Lee's words rang in his head. "She's perfect for you."

He'd been right after all. Tenten wasn't annoying or clingy. She also wasn't distant either. She was agreeable but not a pushover. Smart but not calculating or cunning. Neji wasn't lying when he told Lee he had a crush on Tenten.

He just hadn't realized it until now.


	2. Chapter 2: Tenten

It wasn't that Tenten had never thought about boys. She thought about them a lot. That was for sure.

She'd had a sucker crush on her teammate Lee when she was a Genin, and at one point in time, she even thought that Sasuke was cute.

Unfortunately, boys just didn't fit into her current goals. She wanted to become a strong kunoichi like Tsunade and prove to shinobi that kunoichi could be just as strong.

Tenten just wasn't focused on her love life. She'd been on a couple dates with civilians but never shinobi. She much preferred to train with Neji and Lee than worry about whether some guy liked her or not.

She was helping Neji train for the upcoming Jounin exams. They'd not been Chuunin three months when Neji told her that he was recommended for the Jounin exams after going on a mission with Sarutobi Asuma.

She'd been incredibly happy for him. However, some part of her was worried that when he made Jounin, he wouldn't go on missions with the rest of Team Gai anymore.

He'd probably be sent on a few solo missions or missions with other Jounin. He might even be assigned a Genin team! Tenten couldn't help but inwardly laugh at the thought of stoic, quiet Neji dealing with a bunch of troublemaking Genin.

Tenten was trying to keep out of Neji's range, and he was quickly advancing- he activated Byakugan and continued forward.

Tenten sprinted to the left, throwing a barrage of weapons at the Byakugan-user.

He deflected the weapons and continued advancing.

Tenten bit her lip. She might be fast, but he was slightly faster. Suddenly, she heard a voice in the distance call out, "Tenten!"

Neji deactivated Byakugan and both of them turned to see the figure entering the training grounds. "Shikamaru?" Tenten asked in shock.

Sure, Shikamaru was much slower than either her or Neji, but he seemed to be sprinting as if his life depended on it. Knowing Shikamaru would never exert such physical effort unless there was danger, she nodded at Neji. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good!

Shikamaru arrived in front of the pair looking a little worse for wear.

"Tenten! Will you go to the Summer Festival with me?" Shikamaru asked, a tad panicked.

She felt Neji tense next to her, but she brushed the thought aside. Shikamaru, who hardly ever let anything bother him, was panicking.

Tenten's eyebrows furrowed. "Shikamaru, what is wrong and why do you need me to go to the Summer Festival with you?"

Shikamaru straightened up, clearly happy that she agreed to hear him out. "Tsunade-sama is inviting some people from Suna to the festival- among them Temari."

Tenten's eyes widened. She and Shikamaru oftentimes played Shougi, and they were good friends. He constantly called her "the least troublesome kunoichi in Konoha."

He had confided in her recently that Temari wanted to embark on a relationship with him, and Shikamaru felt that he wasn't ready. Tenten didn't like seeing her friend in distress so she nodded.

Besides, it wasn't like someone else was going to ask her anyways.

The look of relief on Shikamaru's face was completely worth it. "Great," Shikamaru stated before sprinting away from the training fields.

Tenten turned back to Neji in hopes of continuing their earlier training session.

He wasn't paying any attention to her and was narrowing his eyes on the shadow-using shinobi casually walking away.

Was he angry at Shikamaru for interrupting their training session? Or... was he angry at her for allowing the interruption?

"Neji!" Tenten cried out, "Snap out of it!"

He turned his gaze towards her... and his gaze softened before hardening again.

"Why are you going with Shikamaru to the Summer Festival?" Neji inquired, his voice icy.

Suddenly, Tenten realized what must be wrong. "Oh, I'm sorry," Tenten stated, placing a hand on the Hyuuga's broad shoulder, "I didn't realize. Were you planning on training that day?"

Neji looked even angrier if that was even possible and proceeded to shove her hand off. "How could you even ask that?" Neji seethed.

Tenten blinked twice at him. "Oh. Are you mad Shikamaru interrupted our training session? What's wrong?"

"Tenten. Do you think the only thing I think about is training?" Neji asked, his cold eyes blazing with anger.

Tenten gulped. "Of course not, Neji. I just know the Jounin exams are important to you-"

"You're important to me too," Neji interrupted.

Tenten's eyes softened. Neji hardly ever showed or stated his affection for anyone. "You're important to me too... which is why I want you to pass," Tenten stated.

"I love you," Neji said without preamble.

Tenten's eyes widened. It was really uncharacteristic for Neji to be so affectionate. "I love you too. You're my teammate, and you're my best friend. I would do anything for you," Tenten responded, meaning every word.

Tenten sensed some hurt in Neji's pale lavender eyes. "No, Tenten. You don't understand."

Tenten's eyebrows creased. "What do you mean? Of course I understand! The bond between a shinobi and his teammates-"

"I'm in love with you," Neji interrupted quickly.

He then stalked off in the same direction Shikamaru went without even waiting for a response.

Tenten was so shocked.

The possibility of Neji having romantic feelings for her had never dawned on her. He'd always been angsty. Even after his fight with Naruto, he was still slightly cold and reserved.

He seemed to only be focused on his goals as a shinobi. It always seemed that Neji was... above romantic feelings and hormones.

Neji was sixteen years old, had never had a girlfriend, and had never even mentioned having romantic feelings.

Tenten stared after him. She obviously had to take some time to think. This... this changed everything. This changed their team dynamic. This changed their relationship.

She closed her eyes in thought. She'd never really seen him as boyfriend material.

One thing was for sure though: she couldn't imagine her life without him.


End file.
